Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Barry McCaffrey blasts the ISG--while picking up some of its recommendations-- and argues that any large US troop exit should be on a 36 month timetable. The central premise is that the Iraqi army is a national army and that it can be rehabilitated into a capable force that is up to the task of protecting Iraq and Iraqis. He dismisses the police and the FPF. Yet, the police in particular are symptomatic of the ongoing civil war, and writing them off does nothing to address the fact that a key instrument of government force in Iraq is being used to pursue internecine violence. There is another premise in the OPED and that is that the army remain intact, so far....